Aesthetics of lenses

Dear mister Deakins,

I am contacting you regarding my final thesis I am writing on the subject of the aesthetics of lenses used in cinema. The thesis covers the photography director’s choices and how different lenses can be chosen and used for different effects thus explaining how and why they make their choices.

It would be a great honor to have your short or long testimony in my final thesis because I admire you for your work and what you have made. You are an exemple for us, students and maybe future filmmakers.

So, the questions are :

1st Question :

What process do you follow to pick your lenses ? What are the steps you follow ?

 

2nd Question :

Are you using the different optical aberrations that exist like an aspect of aesthetic ?

 

3rd Questions :

Would you rather chose a spherical or anamorphic lense ? What is yout favourite one ?

 

4th Question :

Do you personalize your lenses through renters or manufacturers ?

 

5th Question :

Do you have a favorite lense manufacturer ? (like Cooke, Zeiss, Angénieux,…)

 

6th Question :

Do you have a ritual to try out new lenses ? If so what do you do ?

 

7th Question :

What is your relationship with directors like ? Because of your experience, what is the implication of the different directors when it comes to the choice of lenses ?

 

8th Question :

Do you have an anecdote or something to tell about movies you worked on ?

 

Thank you so much for your consideration !

 

Nicolas.